The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/26/06 Section: Focus

You wake up . . . the room's spinning . . . the taste of old beer lingers in your mouth. Estranged sunlight comes creeping through the window while the distant sound of a television resonates through the walls. You're not in your dorm or apartment. In fact . . . you don't know where you are, but you know the elongated lump under the plaid sheets beside you isn't your favorite teddy.

There may be a few minutes of confusion, followed by the occasional flashback. Perhaps you had sex last night, possibly with someone you met the night before. Maybe you don't even know his or her name. Either way, as you retrieve your clothes lying sprawled around the floor, remember this - Your situation doesn't call for a parade down Fairfield Way, or better yet, self-induced whipping to repent for your sins. You, along with countless unidentified, students are experiencing the same event, weekend after weekend, year after year.

Students of the class of 2010, I cordially welcome you aboard to college life, where one-night stands are as plentiful as research papers, all nighters and red plastic cups. As a freshman in this new community unsupervised by parents or teachers and living in high-density population surrounded by students all in your age group, you're going to meet the insane and the nerdy, deal with the anxiety and bask in the festivities. These next four or five years are going to be the most intense rollercoaster ride you will ever experience and each year you will see a different part of you change with each realization you come across.

Remember high school? The gossip, the cliques, the boyfriends and girlfriends and the pre-emptive conclusions revolving around sex? Forget them. Nothing in high school matters here. This is all new turf, and with that, a whole new set of rules, many of them dealing with sexuality.

As for virginity . . . a majority of you will have lost it by the year's end. This may seem a bit sad for a few of you, but many of you will develop a new view about sex. Although some stick tight to their promises they made to themselves to wait for marriage, a majority of you who came in as virgins will have sex for the first time . . . and the second . . . and the third . . . and either enjoy it or associate it with a bad experience. Some of you will see your virginity as a lost value, most will see that it isn't so much about "losing," as it is a gaining an experience and a different type of knowledge. It's nothing to be squeamish about. After all, we're all adults here, aren't we? There are no more teddy bears, ruffled floral-print dresses and Tonka trucks around these parts.

Continued...

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